Top 3 Bargain Bronzers | MUA, Fashionista and Solait

Fashionista Bronzer in Paris (£1.65-£4), MUA Bronzer in Shade 3 (£1) & Solait Bronzer (£4.99)

I am becoming a little obsessed with bronzing powders. I used to avoid things like that like the plauge because I just assumed that with me being about as pale as Casper the ghost I would just look like a TOWIE extra or like I'd been tangoed if I wore it. 

Well, let me tell you fellow pale friends bronzer is nothing to be feared. You just need to find the right one for you and your skin tone. It is slightly harder to find in the drugstore because they tend to only offer one shade per brand but it is getting better.  I've found a few bronzers from the drugstore, all under £5 in fact, that work with my skin without looking muddy, dirty or orange on the skin. 

  

1. Fashionista Bronzer in Paris 

Price:  £1.65-£4.00

About: This little pan of prettiness is a great bronzer that I think works well for light to light medium skin tones. If you are exceptionally fair, this works really well with a light hand and a duo fiber brush like the Duo Fiber Face brush from Real Techniques of the ELF Stippling brush.  It blends nicely over the skin, is decently pigmented and has just enough of  satin finish that it doesn't look to unnatural on the skin. I use this both to warm up the skin and to contour when I want, so it's a great investment.  You can pick it up for £4 in Superdrug stores or here. It's also on offer at a bargain price of £1.65 here on the MUA website. 

2. MUA Bronzer in Shade 3

Price: £1

About: The MUA bronzer is the biggest bargain of the bunch. The packaging isn't flashy or anything, and can tend to break the more you use it but for just £1 I don't care. It lasts well enough for me, and I'd repurchase this over and over. This, as far as a I know, is the matte shade out of the MUA £1 bronzing line.  It can appear quite dark and scary, but it is great for quite a wide range of skin tones. If you are very very pale, then use a light hand but I find just using a stippling brush/duo fiber brush works well. For a more intense look or for darker skin tones a heavier hand, normal brush or layering works with this bronzer. You can get it in Superdrug stores or here for just £1.

 

3. Solait Maxi Bronzer in Golden Glow

Price: £4.99

About: The Solait Maxi Bronzer is a Superdrug branded product perfect for warming up the skin and for some light contouring. It's not too orange or muddy, it blends like a dream and can be built up if you want more a bronzed look. It is absolutly huge, so would be perfect if you like to take some bronzer down the neck onto the chest area or even over the body. It lasts forever and has a "real" quality to it on the skin. It isn't shimmery or glittery, but offers a finish similar to Nars Laguna by give the face a natural  and subtle glow. It's only £4.99, and you can get it here. There is another, darker, shade to this but it isn't nearly as good and doesn't blend well at all.

twitter | bloglovin | tumblr | pinterest | instagram

My Fashionista 6 Pan Palette: Eyeshadow, Blush, Highlight and More

I am so late with this Fashionista Custom Palette review. I picked this 6 pan palette and the refills up when MUA started selling the Fashionsita brand on their website, which I think was about (or over) 6 months ago). 

The palette is really good quality, and the pans fit into the slots nice and securely. The closure is very secure, which means I am totally comfortable throwing this in my bag if I want something for on the go touch ups or taking it traveling with me without fear that it will open or break.   The huge mirror within the palette also makes this great for on the go because you can see everything without any struggles.  

I opted for the white, 6 pan palette and decided to fill it with 2 blushes, a bronzer, highlight and two eyeshadows. Not having tried the brand before, I wanted to give the whole range a good go so I have a mixture of the regular formula and the "baked" or "merged" blushes/bronzer/eyeshadows. 

Juicy Apricot is an orange/coral blush with gold glitter running through it. I adore  this blush and find it great for everyday wear. I must admit the glitter did put me off a little but on the cheeks it gives the skin a glowy look rather than the disco ball look.  You can notice the glitter on closer inspection though, so if you don't like glitter I would say try "Lolly" from MUA which is similar in colour but matte (review here). 

New York is a blusher from the baked line that Fashionista offer. It's a gorgeous medium pink with a cool toned shimmer running through it. Whilst it does have shimmer, it is free of glitter. It has a nice pigment to it but the great thing about this blush is that it can be sheered out easily for a subtle look or built up for something a little more intense. For me, it's one of those blushes that is near impossible to mess up. 

Paris is a deep, matte bronzer. It's not to orange or anything, but because it is so highly pigmented it can be hard to blend leaving it looking a little muddy. Used with a duo fiber of stippling brush, it works really well because the brush applies the colour lightly. I think it would be better suited to a tanned skin tone, rather than my ghostly pale complexion but I can make it work.  It is great to find something that can work and isn't tango orange. 

Barcelona is another bronzer, but it is in fact a highlighter shade. This is one of a baked option, like New York and is free of chunky glitter. It does have a shimmer running through it making it great for highlighting the eyes or cheeks. The light, golden colour is for pale to medium skin tones depending on how heavily you apply it. It is nicely pigmented, like the other products and the lasting time totally depends on what foundation I'm wearing. 

Bliss is my miss of this little palette. It has nothing to do with the quality of the product because it's really great quality but it is more to do with my stupidity in choosing a colour. Bliss is a barbie, pearly pink shade that is BRILLIANTLY pigmented. It is very similar, in formula, to the MUA  singles but I find it slightly more buttery with less fall out. I would use this so much more if the colour wasn't quite so pink, so I think I'll check out the other shades in this line. 

Finally, we have Double Take which is a baked eyeshadow. It is shimmery with gold glitter as well. It's a gorgeous golden, bronze brown shade that, like bliss, is gorgeously pigmented. My only issue with this is that the glitter falls out like crazy. You can get around the issue but putting your foundation or concealer on later, but I just cannot get used to doing my face after my eyes. I do need a primer underneath this, and the other shadow, to make it last all day without creasing but they don't fade without a primer it's just the creasing I have an issue with.

Just A Note: The compacts that the refills come in are actually quite poor quality, so I would recommend picking up a palette if you are going to invest in something from this Custom line. 

You can check out the palettes and refills here and they start from just £1.65 a piece.

twitter | bloglovin | tumblr | pinterest | instagram

Top 5 Blushes: Drugstore and Highend

Blush is slowly becoming my favourite think in makeup. I go through stages of loving specific categories in my collection and blush is now taking over my lip product obsession. So, in light of that revelation, I thought I would bring you a post on my current top 5 favourite blushes.

B. Cheeky Blusher in Candy Cane 

I've raved about this since the first time I used it. You can read my full review here if you fancy giving it a peek, but in short it's just a great blush for  my pale pals out there and it's one that is impossible to over do which is great for my heavy handed ways.

You can get it here for just £5.99 or in selected Superdrug stores. 

MUA Blusher in Lolly

This was the blush that turned my onto coral/orange blushes. I used to avoid them like the plague  but after trying this I've found they really suit my skin tone. I have really red/pink skin so the orange tones don't emphasie that and I love it. You can read my full review of  the MUA blushes here. 

You can pick these up in Superdrug store or online here for just £1. 

Bourjois Cream Blush in Nude Velvet 

Bourjois are kind of famous for their little round blush pots, and the cream blushes are the latest addition to that line. Nude Velvet is a gorgeous nude/coral/orange shade, and is actually quite similar to MUA Lolly but in a cream form. You can read my full review here if you fancy. 

You can pick it up in places like Boots and Superdrug or online here for £7.99

Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Thrust 

I won this gorgeousness in a giveaway from Aqeela Keela and fell in love with it pretty much on first sight. It's insanely pigmented, long wearing and great  for fall makeup looks. I didn't wear it too much in the summer but the deep purple/pink tone looks great for a more dramatic makeup look now we are hitting the autumn/winter season. 

You can pick it up here or at Illamasqua counters/stores for £18.

Fashionista Blush in Juicy Apricot 

I've wanted this for quite some time, and when MUA took over Fashionista and slashed the prices I took the opportunity to snap it up. It's a peachy coral shade with gold glitter running through it. I usually prefer a matte blush but this give the skin a glowy quality without making you sparkle like a 21st century vampire.

You can pick it up here for just £1.65. 

twitter | bloglovin | tumblr | pinterest | instagram

Top 3 Powder Highlighters: Bronze, Pink and White

When the colder seasons start to come around, I go highlighter mad. In the summer the heat and love of dewy/glowy foundations means highlighters aren't all that essential to give your skin a glowing quality.  In the fall and winter however the more matte and heavier foundations can make the skin look a little dull so I break out the highlighters to help perk the skin up. 

Today, I wanted to share my top 3 highlighters for the autumn and winter.  I have chosen something more golden toned, something pink and something white based. 

 Fashionista "Bronzer" in Barcelona

I hate when people label highlighters as bronzers, because this is far to light to be used as a bronzer, and far to shimmery too. Barcelona is a lovely golden highlight that is great for enhancing that fading summer tan or for people with a more yellow toned skin.  It looks great applied lightly for the more pale skin tones, and a heavier hand can make it work for darker tones. 

You can pick it up here for £1.65, instead of the £4  it would be in selected Superdrug.

MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighter 

I reach for this highlighter when I want something more obvious. It's not the most subtle highlighting powders, and it really does look like you have something on but it still looks gorgeous. The pink tone really suit my cool skin tone and the super shimmery finish is great for super strong impact when you want more dramatic makeup. 

You can pick it up here for £3 or in selected Superdrug stores. 

MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Lightscapade 

This creamy/ivory toned highlight is my everyday pick because it suits my pale skin tone, gives a glow to the skin but doesn't look really obvious or dramatic. In the pan it looks like an ivory powder with swirls of pastal colours running through the base. On the skin it blends perfectly into my foundation/base leaving my cheekbones popping just a little bit more  than normal. 

You can pick this up here or at your local MAC store or counter for £22

twitter | bloglovin | tumblr | pinterest | instagram